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The Breguet 13, or AV 1, as it was known at the time, had a conventional look. The prototype took to the air on 21 November 1916 with Louis Bleriot at the controls. After extensive trials by company test pilots, the aircraft was delivered to Aviation Militaire in January 1917 for their assessment. It immediately became apparent that the aircraft was far in advance of anything the British or the Germans had. The STAe (Section Technical Aeronautique) had stipulated earlier in November that they wanted four types of aircraft, a three seat, long-range reconnaissance plane, a three seat bomber, a two-seat army co-operation plane, and a two-seat fighter. Breguet submitted the aircraft stating variants of the aircraft could cover all the requirements.

On 6 March 1917, impressed by the aircraft, the Aviation Militaire ordered 150 Breguet AV 1s (Breguet 13) to be used for reconnaissance. At the same time, the Michelin Company received an order for 150 Breguet AV 2s (Breguet 14), the bomber version. Because the aircraft were almost identical, it was decided to use the same designation for both – Breguet 14. In the months up until September 1917, orders totalling another 475 aircraft were placed.

Because demand was now outstripping supply, other companies were brought in to build the Breguet 14 under licence: Ballenger (3), Darracq (330), Farman (22), Sidam (300) and Paul Schmitt (275). The Paul Schmitt Company was already in the process of building a bomber, but the Breguet 14 had to take precedence, although they still managed to complete their own orders.

As far as the military was concern, the Breguet 14 was adaptable. It underwent numerous modifications, none of which affected its performance. On some of the aircraft, the wingspan and flap size was reduced. Different engines were tried, and various types of armament were installed and tested. Among these was one of the first air ambulances – the Breguet 14S (Sanitaire). The fuselage was modified to enable two stretchers to be carried inside.

Almost every escadrille was supplied with the Breguet 14, including the overseas units. During the short period of the war in which the USAS was involved, they purchased almost 400 of the aircraft. The first of their bombardment units, the 96th Aero Squadron carried out their first mission in June 1918 using Breguet 14 bombers.

Powered by a Renault 12 Fcy water-cooled inline engine of 300hp / 238.5kW, the metal cowling was extensively louvred and a distinctive frontal radiator was fitted. The pilot was seated in the front and the gunner/observer behind. The Bre 14 A2 was armed with a single 7.7mm forward-fixed Lewis machine gun on the left side of the fuselage and an additional set of 7.7mm Lewis machine guns on a mounting in the rear cockpit. External stores could be carried when in the full bomber role. The prototype flew for the first time on 21 November 1916.

The reconnaissance version was followed into production by the bomber in the summer of 1917, the latter differing in having Breguet-designed automatic trailing-edge flaps on the lower wings and transparent panels in the sides of the observer's cockpit. Late production examples of both versions had horn-balanced ailerons, the B2 aircraft thus equipped doing away with the trailing-edge flaps.

The B2 version could be fitted with an additional Lewis gun that fired downwards through the rear fuselage floor and had a maximum bomb load of 256kg, carried on underwing racks.

A single-seat long-range version, known as the Bre 14 B1, was also built in limited numbers during 1918, and was intended to bomb Berlin. In fact it was little used and never mounted an attack on the German capital. Breguet 14 also equipped American and Belgian units during World War I, some powered by Italian Fiat A-12 and A-12bis engines.

The Bre 14 A2 reconnaissance version and the Bre 14 B2 bomber equipped at least 71 French escadrilles on the Western Front by November 1918 and were also used by units in Serbia, Greece, Macedonia and Morocco.

Many ex-French aircraft were handed over to Poland in 1919 and these took part in the fighting with Russia in 1920. The type formed part of the initial equipment of the Czech air arm, and others were operated in Brazil, China (70 with 298kW Lorraine-Dietrich engines), Denmark, Finland, Greece, Japan, Portugal and Spain. The Spanish equipped four squadrons in Morocco in 1922, using them on missions against Riff tribesmen. A further 40 were obtained in 1923. A small number of float variants were also built, mostly with a central main float and small wingtip stabilising floats.Türk Hava Kuvvetleri assembled 16 Bréguet XIV A-2 in 1924 for the Turkish Air Force.

During 1919 Breguet 14 made a number of long-distance flights and Louis Breguet founded the Compagnie des Messageries Aeriennes with them, making regular air mail flights linking Paris with Brussels and London. These Bre 14 had special mail containers fitted under the wings. A cabin version with provision for two passengers was built as the Breguet 14T.

Later came the improved Bre 14Tbis and the three-passenger Breguet 14T2. During the 1920s, the Lignes Aeriennes Latecoere company used more than 100 Breguet 14 in various versions on its routes between Toulouse and Dakar (West Africa) and between Natal and Santiago di Chile in South America. The Br 14S air ambulance, adapted from the Breguet 14T, was widely operated in the 1920s during the campaigns in Morocco and Syria. Each could carry two stretchers in the rear fuselage.

Breguet XIX TF Super Bidon Point d’Interrogation

Production was spread over seven manufacturers, in addition to the Louis Breguet factory at Velizy, near Paris, and 7800 of the type were built up to 1926, more than 2,500 appearing after the war ended in 1918.

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works at Toulouse-Montaudron. In 1917 P-G Latécoère turned from making munitions to licence-building aircraft for the Aviation Militaire Française. Total wartime production amounted to 800 licenced Breguet XIV and Salmson 2A.2 2-seat reconaissance bomber biplanes.

Initially, these licenced airframes do not seem to have received Latécoère designations. The licenced XIVs were refered to as Breguet-Latécoère 14s (or sometimes Latécoère Breguets). The designation Laté 1 may have been applied to licenced Brequets but there is some confusion with a 1918 2-seat fighter (of original Latécoère design?).

Latécoère converted large number of Breguet XIVs for civilian used in 1921-23 (190 for use by Aéropostale alone). None of these civil conversions seem to have received distinct Laté-x designations. Namings were as follows:

The 'Torpedo' name comes from the designation of Breguet's own 14T and 14Tbis passenger conversions. Like the 14Ts, the Breguet-Latécoère 14 Torpedo was an aft cabin conversion as distinct from the cabin 14 'Salon' conversions.

The Breguet 14s were sold to 22 countries. There were fourteen variations that included using a number of engines and a large number of modifications. The type would continually see service in frontline French forces up until 1932.